Mass. gun bill advances after close committee vote

BOSTON — House Speaker Robert DeLeo’s new proposal to reduce gun violence has barely emerged with a favorable report from a legislative committee, foreshadowing a potentially turbulent reception in the full House and Senate.

The Public Safety Committee’s co-chairs, Sen. James Timilty (D-Walpole) and Rep. Harold Naughton (D-Clinton), parted ways, with Timilty voting against the bill and Naughton supporting it. It cleared the committee 7-6.

The bill (H 4121) has been on the fast track since DeLeo filed it on May 27. The close vote follows a lengthy committee hearing last Tuesday, when supporters said the bill will curb gun violence and opponents countered that the bill unfairly imposes hardships on legal gun owners, while not focusing enough on illegal gun owners.

The bill, created with the aid of a task force and spurred by the 2012 shooting inside Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, includes a provision giving police chiefs authority to deny a firearm ID card for a rifle or shotgun based on a “suitability” standard, which has drawn criticism from the Gun Owners Action League.

The bill also increases penalties for improper storage of a firearm, rifle or a shotgun, and requires schools to come up with a plan to deal with the mental health needs of their students.

The bill does not include a proposal Gov. Deval Patrick has long pushed for: limiting gun sales to one a month.

House lawmakers who signed off on DeLeo’s bill, aside from Naughton, included Reps. Alan Silvia (D-Fall River), Brian Ashe (D-Longmeadow), Michael Brady (D-Brockton), Linda Campbell (D-Methuen), and Sean Curran (D-Springfield). They were joined by Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz (D-Jamaica Plain).

House lawmakers who voted against the bill included Reps. Cleon Turner (D-Dennis), David Vieira (R-East Falmouth), and Nicholas Boldyga (R-Southwick). They were joined by Sens. Timilty, Michael Moore (D-Millbury) and James Welch (D-West Springfield).

Once again our idiots in Boston have shown their lack of concern for the people they are supposed to represent. I guess that the people of Massachusetts are getting just what they deserve for voting in a bunch of Obama think-a-likes. Of course boss Patrick will support this stupidity. I can only hope that the people of what used to be a great state eventually wake up.